 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, DC

						                    Served:  March 19, 2004

NOTICE

						

Docket OST-2004-17373

U.S.-UKRAINE THIRD-COUNTRY CODE-SHARE SERVICES

By this notice we invite U.S. certificated air carriers interested in
using the service opportunity available in the U.S.-Ukraine market to
file applications as specified below in the captioned docket.

Under the U.S.-Ukraine Air Transport Agreement designated airlines of
each Party may operate a total of four code-share opportunities pursuant
to code-sharing arrangements between an airline of one Party and an
airline of a third country over intermediate points and to destinations
specified in Annex I of the Agreement.  A code-sharing opportunity is
defined in the Agreement as a combination of one pair of code-share
partners and one city-pair.  Operations by the selected U.S. carriers
are limited to a total of 18 round-trip frequencies per week for
combination services.  

In addition to the designation limitations, third-country code-share
authorizations are limited under the Agreement to service to two Ukraine
points, Kiev and Odessa, via a total of four European intermediate
points, up to a total of four Europe-Ukraine city-pair markets.  Four
U.S. carriers have been selected by the United States to provide
scheduled combination service on a code-share basis with specified
third-country carrier partners, via specified intermediate points, to
Kiev (American with Swiss via Zurich; Northwest with KLM via Amsterdam;
Delta with Air France via Paris, and United with Lufthansa via
Frankfurt).  However, Swiss notified the Department on August 1, 2003,
(Docket OST-2002-12001) that it and its partner American would cease
operations in the U.S.-Ukraine third-country market as of October 26,
2003.  As a result, and for the reasons set forth in a Notice of Action
Taken being issued concurrently in Dockets OST-2003-15021 and
OST-2002-12550, the fourth code-sharing opportunity is available.

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We request that all U.S. air carriers interested in making use of the
one available designation as described above, file applications with the
Department no later than 

March 26, 2004.  Answers to such applications should be filed by March
31, 2004.  Replies to answers should be filed by April 5, 2004.

Carriers without the requisite operating authority should file exemption
and/or designation applications and/or requests for statements of
authorization, if applicable, to serve the affected markets in
conjunction with the foreign code-share carrier(s) involved.  Carriers
with the requisite underlying authority need only file the information
requested below of all applicants.  All applications should include, at
a minimum, the following information:  (a) the proposed startup date;
(b) the markets to be served, including the number and identity of U.S.
cities that would receive nonstop-to-nonstop connections in the
U.S.-Ukraine market, and the total elapsed travel time (including
layover time) for each flight between each initial point of origin and
each final destination in both directions (i.e., provide a total elapsed
round-trip travel time for each city pair and break-out subtotals for
the elapsed times on the U.S. to Ukraine flights and the Ukraine to U.S.
flights); (c) the number of frequencies to be provided between the U.S.
and Ukraine and the duration of service if not provided on a year-round
basis for each leg of the flights; (d) type of aircraft, including the
number of seats to be used between the U.S. and the intermediate
point(s) and between the intermediate point(s) and Ukraine; (e) the
third-country code-share carrier involved, and the city and country of
the specific intermediate point(s) and destination point(s) in the
Ukraine to which the services will be provided, and which carrier would
be operating each leg of the flights; (f) existing authority held to
conduct the operations, if applicable; and (g) assurance that the U.S.
air carrier applicant has provided or will provide the Department with
the Compliance Statement referred to in Section IV of the DOT Code-Share
Safety Program Guidelines (issued February 29, 2000) concerning a safety
audit of the foreign air carrier(s) involved.  In addition, carriers
must provide as a part of their applications, copies of the relevant
cooperative service arrangements, if applicable, if not already on file
with the Department.  Applicants are free to submit any additional
information that they believe will help us in making our decision.

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Except for the procedural dates, exemption applications should conform
to Part 302, Subpart C of our regulations (14 CFR Part 302).  All
applications (for operating authority and/or designation) should be
filed with the Department of Transportation in the established dockets,
Dockets Operations, M-30, Room PL-402, 400 Seventh Street, SW,
Washington, DC 20590.

We intend to award the available opportunity based on the applications
and responsive pleadings filed previously or in response to this notice.
 Since comparative selection procedures are necessary, we intend to make
our decision using written, show-cause procedures in accordance with
Part 302 of our regulations (14 CFR Part 302).

We will authorize service of documents by facsimile and by electronic
mail.  Carriers that are interested in such service, however, should
state if they want service by email and should provide interested
parties with their fax number and/or email address.

We will serve this Notice on all U.S. certificated air carriers
operating large aircraft, the Air Transport Association, and the
National Air Carrier Association.

By:

					PAUL L. GRETCH

					        Director

				    Office of International Aviation

(SEAL)

Dated:  March 19, 2004               

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide
Web at:

  HYPERLINK "http://dms.dot.gov//reports_aviation.asp" 
http://dms.dot.gov//reports_aviation.asp 

  

 Under the U.S.-Ukraine agreement, frequencies operated under the
code-share arrangements with third-country carriers count as one-half a
frequency.  

 Northwest, Delta, and United collectively now operate 10.5 weekly
frequencies in the market.

 We note that American and United have already filed applications, in
Dockets OST-2002-12550 and 2003-16445, respectively, for the available
designation.  We will consolidate these applications and any responsive
pleadings into the proceeding established by this Notice.  These
carriers, however, are free to supplement or amend their applications by
the date specified in this Notice for new applications.

 American filed a request for a waiver from the 90-day dormancy
condition in order to preserve its Ukraine third-country code-share
authority until the Department acts on its request to transfer its
U.S.-Ukraine third-country code-share designation and 2.5 weekly
frequencies in Docket OST-2002-12550.  By Notice of Action Taken issued
concurrently with this Notice, we determined that American’s authority
had ceased, and we dismissed as moot its request for a dormancy waiver.

 The original submission is to be unbound and without tabs on 8 ½" x
11" white paper using dark ink (not green) to facilitate use of the
Department’s docket imaging system.  In the alternative, filers are
encouraged to use the electronic submission capability available through
the dockets/DMS Internet site (  HYPERLINK "http://dms.dot.gov" 
http://dms.dot.gov ) by following the instructions at we site. 

